Writing instrument



'ky/'y1- 95 Dec. 1, 1970 H. T. GREEN WRITING INSTRUMENT Filed om.r 51, 196e 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. l, 1970 H. T. GREEN j 3,544,227

-wRITING INSTRUMENT l Filed oct. :51, 196e 2 sheets-sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,544,227 WRITING INSTRUMENT Homer T. Green, Milton, Wis., assignor to The Parker Pen Company, Janesville, Wis., a corporation of Wiscousin Filed Oct. 31, 1968, Ser. No. 772,169 Int. Cl. B43k 24/ 08 U.S. Cl. 401-52 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The barrel of the writing instrument includes separable forward and rearward portions adapted to enclose a selfcontained replaceable cartridge. A point-actuating mechanism includes a plunger mounted to the rearward portion of the barrel, which plunger cooperates with the replaceable cartridge to actuate the writing nib and a reciprocable cap that depresses and releases the plunger. The cap may be removed to expose an eraser mounted to the plunger.

This invention relates to writing instruments and more particularly relates to writing instruments that include replaceable cartridges containing the marking substance.

To accommodate replaceable cartridges, one type of writing instrument has a barrel with separable rearward and forward portions. The rearward portion of the barrel is unscrewed from the forward portion of the barrel to expose the cartridge so that it may Ibe replaced after the marking substance has been exhausted from it. In these Writing instruments, the nibs are projected and retracted by point-actuating mechanisms that operate when the push-buttons or caps at the rear of the writing instruments are reciprocated. The reciprocable cap or the pushbutton has a plunger member mounted to it, which plunger member extends through the separable rearward portion of the barrel to operate the point-actuating mechanism on the replaceable cartridge.

It is desirable for some models of writing instruments of this type to include an eraser. To preserve the attractiveness of the writing instrument, the eraser should be mounted under a reciprocable cap, especially when the writing instrument is intended to be one of a set of two writing instruments and the other writing instrument has a removable cap. To be conveniently positioned on the writing instrument, the eraser should be mounted to the barrel underneath the reciprocable cap so that it extends from the Ibarrel when the reciprocable cap is removed. With this mounting, the eraser can be rubbed against the marks to be removed while it is attached to the barrel of the writing instrument with the barrel serving as a handle.

Mechanical pencils are known which include a capoperated step-by-step lead feeding mechanism and an eraser that is attached to the barrel of the pencil and exposed when the reciprocable cap is removed. In these mechanical pencils, there is a reciprocable member that contacts the reciprocable cap and actuates the lead feed mechanism of the pencil. This reciprocable member is permanently fastened within the barrel to be reciprocable therein and yet not be accidentally pulled from of the barrel. The reciprocable member also supports the eraser and closes the rearward end of the housing.

Pencils of this type have a disadvantage in that they cannot accommodate a self-contained replaceable cartridge to contain the marking substance. One reason why pencils of this type cannot accommodate replaceable cartridges is that there is no convenient mechanism for separating the reciprocable" member from the barrel that it closes so that a new cartridge may be inserted.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 ICC Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel writing instrument.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a Writing instrument that is adapted to operate with a replaceable cartridge and that includes an eraser mounted to the rearward portion of the barrel of the writing instrument.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a Writing instrument that includes a replaceable cartridge and a point-actuating mechanism that is operated by a reciprocable cap, which cap may be removed to expose an eraser mounted to the barrel of the writing instrument.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel point-actuating mechanism for a writing instrument that is reciprocably engageable with a replaceable cartridge to project and retract the point thereof and which is easily separable from the front portion of the barrel of the writing instrument to expose the cartridge for replacement.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a cap actuated, reciprocable plunger for operating the point-actuating mechanism of a writing instrument, which plunger carries an eraser and is reciprocably mounted to the rearward portion of the barrel of the writing instrument underneath the cap.

In accordance with the above and further objects of the invention, a writing instrument is provided that includes a self-contained replaceable cartridge and a pointactuating mechanism. The point-actuating mechanism includes a plunger member that cooperates with the end of the replaceable cartridge to extend and retract the writing point and a reciprocable cap which operates the plunger member. An eraser is mounted to the plunger member and is exposed when the cap is removed from the writing instrument.

To permit easy access to the cartridge for its replacement, the barrel of the writing instrument includes separable forward and rearward barrel portions. The plunger member is recipocably moutned to the rearward barel portion. To this end, the plunger member includes fingers that extend through an aperture in the rear wall of the rearward portion of the barrel and a flange at the base of the fingers, which flange is larger than the aperture and prevents removal of the fingers from the rearward portion of the barrel through the aperture. A tubular clutch member frictionally engages the rearward barrel portion at its lower end and includes a flange fastened between the eraser and the plunger at its upper end. The tubular clutch member is spring biased upwardly to return the plunger after it has been depressed.

The invention and the above noted and other features thereof will be better understood from the following detailed description when considered with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a writing instrument which is an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective View of a cam that is a part of the embodiment of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinally sectioned view of the rearwardly disposed portions of the writing instrument shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinally sectioned View of the rearwardly disposed portions of the writing instrument without a cartridge and with the cap removed to exposed the eraser; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5 5 of FIG. 4.

GENERAL FEATURES In FIG. 1, a ball pen 10 is shown in a longitudinally sectioned view having a barrel 12, a self-contained replaceable cartridge 14, a point-actuating mechanism 16, an eraser assembly 18, and a removable reciprocable cap 20. The self-contained replaceable cartridge 14 is carried in the barrel 12 and includes a point sleeve 22 having a distal end 24 that extends beyond a point member 30 at the forward end of the barrel while the nib of the pen is projected and, as shown in FIG. 1, supports a ball point 26 in writing position.

Thecap 20 may be depressed, and after having been depressed, returns to its original position. When the cap 20 is depressed, it operates the ,point-actuating mechanism 16. If the point sleeve 22 is withdrawn into the point member 30 before the cap 20 is depressed, the point sleeve 22 is extended from the point member 30hy the point-actuating mechanism 16 and remains extended after the cap 20 returns. If the point sleeve 22 is extending from the point member 30 before the cap is depressed, the point sleeve 22 is returned within the point member 30 by the pointactuating mechanism 16 and remains within the point member after the cap V20 returns. p

The cap 20 may be completely removed, and vafter it has beenr'emoved, an eraser 28 in the eraser assembly 18 is exposed as best shown'in FIG. 4 for use in eradicating a mark while the barrel serves as a handle for the eraser.

Although a ball pen is specifically shown in FIG. 1, the invention may also be included in a mechanical pencil of the type that includes a self-contained replaceable cartridge. Ball pencils that include the invention may be substantially the same in construction, but include a different marking substance in the cartridge. In pencils that include a self-contained lead cartridge, the point actuating mechanism 16 actuates the plunger of the step-by-step lead feed mechanism of the cartridge.

STRUCTURE OF THE PENCIL The barrel 12 of the pen 10 is a generally cylindrical member formed ofY any suitable material such, for example, as a plastic, and has a tapered internally threaded forward end portion for receiving the conical barrel point member 30. The point member 30 is preferably formed of metal and includes a relatively narrow externally threaded nipple 32 engaging the internal threads of the tapered forward end portion of the barrel 12 with a shoulder 34 of the point member abutting a corresponding shoulder at the end of the tapered forward end portion of the barrel 12.

The replaceable self-contained cartridge 14 is carried by the barrel 12 and includes three main sections, which are: (1) a cylindrical body portion 36 that contains the marking substance; (2) a cam member 38 that is disposed rearwardly of the cylindrical body portion 36, and (3) the point sleeve 22 that is forward of the cylindrical body portion 36 and is extended through the point member 30 by the point actuating mechanism 16.

The cam member 38 is longitudinally movable relative to the cylindrical body portion 36 and forms a part of the point-actuating mechanism 16.r The point-actuating mechanism 16 also includes a plunger member 61 that moves downward to depress and rotate the cam member 38 when the cap 20 is depressed.

The point sleeve 22 joins the cylindrical body portion I 36 ofthe cartridge at a shoulder 40. A helical compression spring 42 is positioned over the point sleeve 22 with one of its ends abutting the shoulder 40 and the other of its ends abutting the point member 30 to bias the cartridge 14 rearwardly.

The cam member 38 is attached to the cylindrical body 36 of the cartridge to be longitudinally -movable therein and is provided with a plurality of cam surfaces 44, 46, 48 and 50 as best shown in FIG. 2. The cam surfaces 44, 46, 48 and 50 face towards the rear of the writing instrument and are equidistantly spaced from the axis of rotation of the cam member throughtheir entire extents defining a centrally located aperture, and preferably following a 45- degree helix about the cam member 38. The cam surfaces 44, `46, `48 and 50, are oriented in the same sense so that they impart a unidirectional rotational movement to the cam member 38 and therefore to the entire cartridge 14 when moved against a rotationally fixed cam actuating means 55 that forms part of the plunger member 6,1 of the point-actuating mechanism 16. The cam surfaces 44 and 46 are adjacent to each other and the cam surfaces 48 and 50 arey adjacent to each other, with the cam surfaces 44 and 50 being separated by a longitudinally extending slot 52 and the cam surfaces 46 and 48 beingseparated by a similar longitudinally extending slot 54.

To connect the rearward portion `and the'forward portion of the barrel 12 so as to enclose the replaceable cartridge 14, a cylindrical ratchet frame 56 is provided as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5. The cylindrical ratchet frame 56 includes at its upper or rearward end an inwardly turned flange 58 defining a circular aperture through which the plunger member 61 of the point actuating mechanism 16 projects between the eraser assembly 18 and the cam member 38 and at its lower or forward end the ratchet frame 56 includes internal threads which engage with the external threads of a nipple 62 formed on the barrel 12.

At its forward or lower end the ratchet frame 56 includes a first shoulder 64 and at itsupper end it includes a second shoulder 66 forming three cylindrical portions stepping downward toward the rearward portion of the ratchet frame. Two longitudinally extending stop members 68 and 70, best shown in FIG. 5, are pressed into the sides of the ratchet frame 56 at diametrically opposite positions therein and extend from the inwardly turned flange 58 at the upper or rearward end of thel ratchet frame 56 downward or forward to a length that permits them to cooperate with the cam member 38 and to hold it against the pressure exerted by the spring 42 in either its forward position when located against the cam faces 48 and 44 or else in its rearward position when located in the two slots 52 and 54 in a manner to be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

To rotate the cam member 38, the plunger member 61 includes the two longitudinally extending lingers 72 and 74 supported by a plunger stem 82 as shown best in FIGS. 3 and 4, each finger having a surface formed complementarily to the cam surfaces 44, 46, 48 and 50 of the cam member 38. A generally tubular clutch member 76 includes wall portions crimped at three equally spaced 1ocations to lit snugly but slidably within the shell 94 of the cap 20. At the upper or rearward end of the tubular clutch member 76 an inwardly turned flange 78 is formed to provide a central cylindrical aperture corresponding in size to and aligned with an aperture 80 Within the stem 82 of the plunger member 61. To bias the lingers 72 and 74 upwardly, a helical compression spring A84 circumscribes the stem 82 resting its bottom end against the shoulder 66 of the ratchet frame 56 and abutting with lits upper end the inwardly turned ange 78 of the clutch member 76. The inner aperture `80 of the stem 82 includes an annular shoulder 86 to support the eraser assembly 18 therein.

To hold the eraser 28 in place, the eraser assembly 18 includes an eraser cup 88 having a tubular stem 90 formed integrally with the central portion of the bottom wall 0f the eraser cup and extending downwardly into the aperture 80. The stem 90 includes an outwardly turned flange 92 which abuts the shoulder 86 within the aperture -800f the plunger member 61 toy hold the eraser cup to the plunger member 61. A split ferrule 93 is tightly supported within the inner circumference of the eraser cup 88 and holds the cylindrical resilient eraser 28 by means of a press-lit.

The cap 20 includes a generally tubular shell 94 which extends over the point-actuating mechanism 16 and a portion of the barrel 12 when the cap is in place. At the upper end of the shell is a bushing 96 conforming with the inner portion of the shell and extending downward to the ange 78 of the clutch 76 when the cap is in place. A clip screw 98 having a cylindrical head 100 is screwed into the bushing 96 and leaves an annular groove around its shank between the top of the bushing 96 and the bottom of the cylindrical head 100 of the clip screw 98. A clip 102 shown in FIG. l includes an eyelet that fits within this annular groove around the shank of the clip screw 98 with the cap 100 of the clip screw abutting its upper surface and holding it against the top surface of the bushings 96.

OPERATION Before writing, the ball point 26 and the tip of the point sleeve 24 are projected beyond the housing 12 of the pen. To this end, the cap is depressed while holding the barrel 12 stationary. As the cap 20 moves downwardly, the bottom edge of the bushing 96 of the cap presses against the ange 78 of the clutch 76 causing the clutch 76 to slide axially with respect to the ratchet frame 56 which it grasps frctionally by means of its crimped inner walls. As the clutch 76 moves downward, the flange 78 of the clutch 76 pushes downwardly against the stem 82 and the compression spring 84 of the plunger member 61 and the plunger member 61 pulls the eraser cup 88 downward by means of the tubular stem 90 of the eraser cup.

As the plunger member 61 moves downward, the longitudinally extending fingers 72 and 74 contact and push downwardly on the cam faces 44 and -48 of the cam member 38. r[he force exerted against the cam faces causes the cartridge 14 to move downward in the barrel 12 against the pressure of the compression spring 42 causing the end of the point sleeve 24 to project beyond the housing point 30. The force also causes the cam member 38 to rotate. The rotation of the cam member 38 by the pressure between the fingers 72 and 74 and the cam surfaces 44 and 48 causes the slots 52 and 54 to be rotated away from the stop members 68 and 70.

After the cap 20 has been depressed, it is released and begins its upward movement under the pressure of the compression spring 84 against the plunger member 61 and the compression spring 42 surrounding the point sleeve 2.4. As the cap 20 moves upward, the cam faces 44 and 48 abut the stop members A68 and 70 because the cam member 38 has been rotated 90 degrees. The stop members68 and 70 arrest the upward motion of the cartridge 14. Since the cam faces 44 and 48 are closer to the top of the cam member 38 than the bottom of the grooves 52 and 54, the end of the point sleeve 24 is held in its projected position by the stop members 68 and 70 with the ball point 26 extending therefrom.

To retract the ball point 26 and the point sleeve 24 into the point member 30, the cap 20 is again depressed. In a manner similar to that explained above, the cap 20 moves downward against the pressure of the compression spring 84 around the stem 82 of the plunger member 61 and the spring 42 around the point sleeve 22. As it moves downward, the ends of the fingers 72 and '74 abut the faces 46 and 50 of the cam member 38 causing the cam member 38 to rotate and to move longitudinally. 'Ihe cam member is rotated to a position in which the slots 52 and 54 are aligned with the stop members 68 and 70 so that, upon releasing the cap 20, the cam member 38 moves upward, retracting the point sleeve 24 and the ball point 26 into the bore of the barrel 12.

When the invention is included in a pencil rather than a ball pen, the manner in which the point-actuating mechanism 16 works and the manner in which a step-by-step feed mechanism of a pencil operates is explained in greater detail in co-pending United States application 573,- 240 for Cartridge Repeater Pencil by Daniel Parker, now Pat. 3,437,413, issued Apr. 8, 1969, which application is assigned to the same assignee as this application.

If a mistake is made when writing, the cap 20 is removed frorn the housing 12 by sliding it away, the shell portion 94 of the cap freely sliding over the ratchet frame 56 and the clutch 76. The eraser 28 is now exposed at the end of the pen 10 so that the barrel 12 of the pen may be used as a handle during the erasing operation.

When the cartridge 14 is exhausted, the cap 20 is pulled free of the pen 10 and the ratchet frame 56 is unscrewed from the nipple 62 of the barrel 12 and removed, carrying with it the plunger member 16 and the eraser assembly 18 to expose the cartridge 14. The empty cartridge 14 is removed and replaced with a new cartridge. Then, the ratchet frame 56 is repositioned and screwed into place to enclose the new cartridge.

The writing instrument 10 of this invention includes a self-contained replaceable cartridge 14 and also has an eraser assembly 18 that is mounted on the end of the writing instrument to be exposed upon the removal of the cap 20 so that the barrel 12 of the writing instrument serves as a handle for the eraser 28. The point-actuating mechanism 16 of the writing instrument 10 is capable of being operated by depressing the cap 20, which in this embodiment operates only the point projecting-retracting mechanism of a ball pen Abut could operate a step-bystep feed mechanism of a lead cartridge, as well.

A ratchet frame 56 that serves as the rearward end of the barrel 12 for the writing instrument 10 may be unscrewed from the forward end of the barrel to expose the cartridge 14 for easy replacement. A plunger member 61 that forms a part of the point actuating mechanism and also supports the eraser assembly 18 is movably mounted to the ratchet frame 56 by a clutch mechanism that is spring biased rearwardly and a flange that arrests the rearward motion of the plunger member 61.

While an embodiment of the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, many modications and variations are possible in the invention. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A point actuator and eraser assembly for a writing instrument comprising:

a barrel;

a depressible member movably engaging said barrel and extending rearwardly thereof;

said depressible member including a plunger means for operating said point-actuator when said plunger means is reciprocated;

said plunger means including a portion reciprocably extending into a rearward portion of said writing instrument;

an eraser element mounted to said depressible member and extending rearwardly thereof;

. biasing means for biasing said depressible member rearwardly, whereby said assembly is moved forward in the writing instrument against the force of said biasing means and returned by said biasing means to cause said plunger means to operate the point-actuating mechanism of said Writing instrument;

said depressible member including a means for restraining the motion of said depressible member in the rearward direction beyond a vpredetermined point, whereby said depressible member is permanently mounted to said writing instrument;

said depressible member and biasing means being located rearwardly of the forward portion of said cartridge; and

a reciprocable cap adapted to be movably supported on said barrel;

said reciprocable cap having a shell with an internal member positioned to abut a rearward portion of said depressible member.

2. A point actuator and eraser assembly according to claim 1 in which the shell of the cap is movably positioned over said eraser element and said depressible member for reciprocable movement therewith.

3. A point actuator and eraser assembly according to claim 2 in which:

said depressible member includes a tubular portion having an inwardly extending flange at its upper end and said cap includes a shoulder that abuts said ange, whereby said depressible member is moved downwardly when said cap is moved downward and said cap and depressible member are returned upwardly by said biasing means; and

said tubular portion being in frictional contact with said barrel.

4. A point actuator and eraser assembly according to claim -3 in which said tubular portion of said depressible member has a non-cylindrical shape along a portion of its length and an inner diameter enabling it to maintain a tight frictional contact with the barrel of said Writing instrument.

5. A point actuator and eraser assembly according to claim 4 in which:

said tubular member has a partially closed rearward end defining an aperture therein,

said eraser assembly further including an eraser cup having a stem extending downwardly through saidY aperture and being attached to said plunger means; and

said biasing means comprising a compression spring circumscribing said plunger means and abutting the end wall of said tubular means at one end and a portion of said writing instrument at its other end. Y 6. The combination of a writing instrument with the point actuator and eraser assembly of claim 1 in which: said barrel has separable forward and rearward portions yadapted to enclose a self-contained replaceable cartridge unit containing a marking substance; and

said plunger means operating the point-actuating mechanism for said cartridge.

7. A combination according to claim 6 in which:

said depressible member is mounted to the separable rearward portion of the barrel; and

said forward and rearward portions being connectible to screw threads.

8. The combination of claim 6 in which said cartridge includes rearwardly disposed cam surfaces for engagement with said plunger means, whereby said cam surfaces lare longitudinally and rotatably moved by the reciprocation of the plunger means.

9. The combination of claim 6 in which:

the reciprocable cap is removably mountable to said barrel over said eraser; and

the internal member of the cap includes a shoulder abutting said depressible member, whereby depression of said cap moves said depressible member with respect to said barrel and the return of said depressible member by said biasing means causes the return of said cap.

10. The combination of claim 9 in which:

said depressible member comprises a` tubular portion having a noncircular cross section in frictional contact with said writing instrument;

said tubular portion including a ange at its upper end abutting said shoulder of said cap; and

said biasing means including a coil compression spring abutting at one end the opposite end of said ange from said cap and abutting a portion of said barrel at the other end.

11. The combination of claim 10 in which:

said separable rear portion includes a ratchet means screwed to said separable forward portion of said barrel and having stop members thereon;

said cartridge includes cam means having spaced-apart surfaces for engagement with said stop means;

at least a first of said surfaces being at a higher level from the bottom of said cam means than a second of said surfaces; and

said plunger means including cam surface means for moving said cam means longitudinally and rotationally witheach depression of said plunger means so that said first of the surfaces abuts said stop means after one depression of said plunger means and said second of said surfaces abuts said stop means after the next depression of said plunger means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,190,910 2'/ 1940 Nichols 401-52 3,051,132 8/ 1962 Johmann 401-110 X 3,205,863 9/ 1965 Rhoades 401-111 3,288,115 11/1966 Hechtle 401-110 LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

